Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on 3 June 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park. Their son Steve had helped his parents since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo. In 1982 the park was renamed the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and the area was doubled with the purchase of another 4 acres (1.6 ha). Steve and Terri changed the name of their now growing wildlife park to Australia Zoo. As filming generated extra funds, Steve and Terri put all money raised from filming and merchandise into conservation and building new exhibits.

Australia Zoo won the Australian Tourism Awards for 2003–2004 in the category Major Tourist Attraction. In 2004, the Australian Animal Hospital was opened next to the zoo to help with animal care and rehabilitation. More recently, the zoo was a finalist in two categories for the 2010 Queensland Tourism Awards.[6] Visitors will see a wide variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles, and can view crocodile feedings, hand-feed elephants, and have hands-on animal encounters.

In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Australia Zoo was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "location".[7]

Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on 3 June 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile Park. Bob is a world-renowned herpetologist, who is regarded as a pioneer in the keeping and breeding of reptiles, while Lyn was one of the first to care for and rehabilitate sick and injured wildlife in southeast Queensland.[3][8] Bob and Lyn passed on their love and respect for wildlife to their three children: Joy, Steve, and Mandy. Steve had helped Bob and Lyn since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo. In 1982, the park was renamed the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and the area was doubled with the purchase of another 4 acres (1.6 ha). In 1987, the Crocodile Environmental Park was opened in an effort to aid saltwater crocodile protection. By the 1990s the Crocodile Environmental Park had become very popular and was seen as unique for its display of crocodile feeding within the park.[3][9] The area was mainly used to house adult saltwater crocodiles that had been captured and relocated from the wild.

The 1990s brought many changes: Bob and Lyn retired and moved to Rosedale, Queensland, while Steve and Terri changed the name of their now growing wildlife park to Australia Zoo in 1998.[10] As filming generated extra funds, Steve and Terri put all money raised from filming and merchandise into conservation and building new exhibits. Their philosophy was that the zoo animals came first, the zoo team came second, and the zoo visitors came third. The zoo also expanded with the creation of a management team and hiring around 50 staff.[9] Australia Zoo won the Australian Tourism Awards for 2003-2004 in the category Major Tourist Attraction.[11] In 2004, the Australian Animal Hospital was opened next to the zoo to help with animal care and rehabilitation. The facility was built in an old avocado packing shed, and was dedicated to Lyn. The facility had a single operating room, and with a staff of 20 full-time workers and 80 volunteers, it cared for up to 6,000 animals per year.[12][13] Steve Irwin died in 2006, the same year Australia Zoo Retail won the Tourism Retailing Award from Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.[14]

In 2007, the zoo and the Government of Queensland made a land deal involving giving a parcel of land from the Beerwah State Forest to Australia Zoo in return for land near Peachester State Forest which was transferred to the government for forestry. The swap permitted the development of an open-range safari attraction, allowing the zoo to expand to a world-class standard.[15] In 2008, a new $5 million animal hospital, claimed to be the largest wildlife hospital in the world, opened next to the packing shed. The new 1,300-square-metre (14,000 sq ft) facility is built of mud brick and hay. It contains two operating theaters with viewing areas for student veterinarians, two treatment rooms, intensive care units for mammals, birds, and reptiles, a CAT scan room, and public areas including a drop-off area, pharmacy, nursery, and waiting room. A conference room in the building will be rented out to help generate operating funds.[12][13]

On 2 March 2008 it was announced that Bob Irwin, the founder, had resigned from Australia Zoo, in order to "keep his son's dream alive" on a different property. In a statement to the press, he thanked the staff for all their help but made no mention of Terri Irwin.[16] At the same time, the zoo was being sued for $2.5 million by a debt collection agency,[16] but the lawsuit was later dropped in an out-of-court settlement.[17]

On 15 March 2008 the Brisbane-based newspaper, The Sunday Mail, claimed there are plans to sell Australia Zoo to Animal Planet and create a $100-million Disney-style wildlife theme park.[18] Terri has publicly announced that she has no plans to sell the zoo, but is looking to expand the park.[19] Despite rumours that she intended to return to the United States,[20] Terri denied the claims and became an Australian citizen on 20 November 2009.[21]

By 2010, the zoo had grown to 76 acres (31 ha),[2] which will eventually be expanded with an additional 135-hectare (334-acre) safari park with hotel.[22]

Construction on the Australia Zoo Safari Lodge began mid 2008 and was due to be finished and operational by the end of 2009. However, due to the economic situation, Australia Zoo decided to put all of its expansion plans on hold. During the beginning of 2011, up to 30 staff members had their employment terminated which management blamed on low visitor numbers due to the Queensland floods and global economic crisis. On 22 February 2011, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the zoo was "on the brink of ruin".[23] Irwin's widow has since denied press reports fuelled by ex-employees that the zoo is facing closure due to the financial crisis.[24][25][26]

The zoo is managed by Director Wes Mannion. The Australia Zoo business is owned by Australia Zoo Pty Ltd, but the land on which the zoo is located, and most of the surrounding area, is owned by Silverback Properties Pty Ltd. Food courts and merchandising at the zoo are operated and maintained by Muscillo Holdings Pty Ltd.

The 'Animal Planet Crocoseum' stadium at the zoo has a seating capacity of about 5000. At the time of its construction, it was the first in the world where snake, bird and crocodile shows were conducted. Australia Zoo calls these shows 'Wildlife Warriors 101'.[29] This is also where the zoo presents concerts, such as the Summer Down Under series.[30]

On 17 September 2011, the zoo opened its African Safari exhibit, a multi-species replica of the Serengeti ecosystem, showcasing zebras, rhinos, and giraffes interacting as they would in the wild. Cheetahs are also on display, but not in the area where the other animals are. The exhibit includes Queensland bottle trees reflecting the native African baobab tree and mock kopjes as seen in southern Africa.

Construction of an artificial island (to represent the island of Madagascar), began in 2006, which will accommodate African animals such as tortoises, lemurs and other species not yet represented, will be completed during stage two of the zoo's Africa exhibit.

Opened in April 2005, this exhibit houses both Sumatran and Bengal tigers. The exhibit was built to resemble the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. It is enclosed on two sides by glass, and includes an underwater viewing area.[31][32]

Elephantasia is an 12-acre (4.9 ha)[22] Asian themed exhibit that opened in 2006 and is the largest Asian elephant enclosure in Australia. It includes a wading pool with a fountain, and tropical gardens with shaded areas for the zoo's elephants. Australia Zoo, however, no longer holds elephants, as two elephants were returned to Sydney,[32][33] and the last surviving elephant died in 2013.

The Rainforest Aviary is an outdoor walk-through aviary housing about 150 birds, most of which are native to Australia. Adjacent to the Rainforest Aviary is the Birds of Prey aviary, which holds various species of raptors and other predatory birds.[22]

Opened beside the Africa exhibit in December 2014, Bindi's Island is a three-story "treehouse" built around a replica fig tree. It offers panoramic views of Australia Zoo, including the adjacent lemur island.[35]

To get around the zoo, visitors can take Steve's Safari Shuttle, a 'modified trailered bus' that operates on a bitumen (asphalt) roadway circuit. Visitors can also hire a caddie to drive themselves around the zoo for the day.

Visitors can view crocodile feedings and participate in elephant feedings. Elephant feedings are on the roadway circuit at the first crossover to the internal section of the zoo in the mornings, and at 'Elephantasia' in the afternoons.[37]

There are 4 walk-through enclosures that visitors can enter and feed kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas,[37] and there is often an opportunity to pet a koala when staff are in the exhibit.

The zoo also offers a roving animal team that walks around the grounds throughout the day with various animals such as alligators, birds, snakes, and lizards. Visitors may have their photo taken with the animals and can purchase professional copies from the zoo's photo lab.

Wildlife Warriors runs a rescue operation and care station for any native wildlife which may be injured in accidents outside the zoo.[38]

This effort is now supported by the 1,300-square-metre (14,000 sq ft) Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital next to the zoo, which can care for up to 10,000 animals per year, with two operating theaters, two treatment rooms, intensive care units for mammals, birds, and reptiles, and a CAT scan room, and was designed by WD Architects.[13] The hospital is named in honor of Steve Irwin's mother Lynn Irwin, who died in a car accident in 2000.

The zoo also runs International Crocodile Rescue, which helps capture and (if necessary) relocate "problem crocodiles." The organization currently has five locations in Australia and another five worldwide, all equipped to handle capture and relocation. The zoo has taken in many of the captured crocodiles when it was deemed that they could not be relocated and released.[39] The crocodile rescue unit runs a rehabilitation facility on the grounds of Australia Zoo that can house full grown male saltwater crocodiles.

Croc One is Australia Zoos research vessel that is used around Australia to conduct marine and land based research. Its most notable usage is for the "Crocs in space" program[40] led by Professor Craig Franklin of the University of Queensland. Croc One is also the vessel on which Steve Irwin died after his heart was pierced by a stingray barb. Croc One is moored at Mooloolaba wharf.[41]

This 135,000-hectare (330,000-acre) property was acquired with the assistance of the Australian government as part of the National Reserve System Programme. It is located on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, and contains spring fed wetlands that provide a water source to threatened habitat and the Wenlock River.[42]

Australia Zoo purchased the 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) Iron Bark Station located at Blackbutt, Queensland in 1994. It is part of the great dividing Range, where the East coast meets the dry West. An additional 325 acres (132 ha) was purchased in 1994 to save a dwindling koala population, with fewer than 12 koalas left in the area. Management immediately commenced reforestation, including 44,000 eucalypt trees for koalas. In 1998, another 325 acres (132 ha) was purchased. In 1999, a 5 acres (2.0 ha) release facility was established to rehabilitate native marsupials the area. Another 1,000 acres (400 ha) was purchased in 1999 with funds from the Lynn Irwin Memorial fund (now Wildlife Warriors Worldwide), and another 1,800 acres (730 ha) was added in 2002. In 2007, Bob Irwin became full-time manager of the station.[43]

The 84,000-acre (34,000 ha) Westbore property, located outside St George in the Southwestern corner of Queensland, was purchased to help conserve the semi arid ecosystems and wildlife in that part of the country. It is located on the edge of acacia woodland in what is known as the "Brigalow Belt".[45]

In March 2008, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital was accused of animal 'cruelty'[46] and of breaking Australian law 13 times[47] by not releasing rehabilitated koalas within their prescribed habitats. The Environment Protection Association said that they are now monitoring and investigating why the koalas were not released correctly. Hospital officials have defended their actions on the grounds that injured koalas found near busy roads or in urban developments cannot safely be released to the same areas.

A second incident on 8 March 2009, involving a Sumatran tiger called 'Juma', saw a keeper taken to hospital.[48] This incident was minor and the keeper only required two stitches to a gash in their arm. Juma was hand raised at the zoo and Zoo Director Wes Mannion said "the scratch was part of a rougher than usual playtime, not an attack."[48]

On 26 November 2013, a trainer was bitten during a play session, again by a tiger. The 30-year-old man had nine years animal handling experience at the zoo. He received bite injuries to the neck and shoulder, and was flown to Royal Brisbane Hospital. His condition was initially stated to be "serious but stable." He recovered well.[49]

On 29 July 2014, a tiger keeper was injured during a demonstration, again by the tiger Juma. The keeper made a full recovery.[50]

1.
Queensland
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Queensland is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west, to the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a population of 4,750,500, concentrated along the coast, the state is the worlds sixth largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 km2. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australias third largest city, often referred to as the Sunshine State, Queensland is home to 10 of Australias 30 largest cities and is the nations third largest economy. Tourism in the state, fuelled largely by its tropical climate, is a major industry. Queensland was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, the first European to land in Queensland was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606, who explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula near present-day Weipa. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip at Sydney, New South Wales at that time included all of what is now Queensland, Queensland was explored in subsequent decades until the establishment of a penal colony at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley. Penal transportation ceased in 1839 and free settlement was allowed from 1842, the state was named in honour of Queen Victoria, who on 6 June 1859 signed Letters Patent separating the colony from New South Wales. The 6th of June is now celebrated statewide as Queensland Day. Queensland achieved statehood with the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, the history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. The north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch, Spanish and French navigators before being encountered by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, the Australian Labor Party has its origin as a formal organisation in Queensland and the town of Barcaldine is the symbolic birthplace of the party. June 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of its creation as a colony from New South Wales. The Aboriginal occupation of Queensland is thought to predate 50,000 BC, likely via boat or land bridge across Torres Strait, during the last ice age Queenslands landscape became more arid and largely desolate, making food and other supplies scarce. This led to the worlds first seed-grinding technology, warming again made the land hospitable, which brought high rainfall along the eastern coast, stimulating the growth of the states tropical rainforests. In February 1606, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed near the site of what is now Weipa and this was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia, and it also marked the first reported contact between European and Aboriginal Australian people. The region was explored by French and Spanish explorers prior to the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of the United Kingdom on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming Eastern Australia, including Queensland, the Aboriginal population declined significantly after a smallpox epidemic during the late 18th century

2.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia

3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

4.
Zoo and Aquarium Association
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The organisation is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ZAAs Wildlife Conservation Fund provides critical funding to projects that aim to protect, the ZAA holds workshops, meetings and conferences for zoo and aquarium specialists. These networks develop and share resources and develop Australasia-wide initiatives in wildlife conservation, the ZAA acts as a focal point for unifying the efforts of zoos and aquariums in contributing to wildlife conservation. The ZAA publishes news, guidelines and management plans for zoos, the ZAA is overseen by a Board elected by the members. ZAA’s headquarters are located in Sydney, Australia and are hosted by the Taronga Zoo, the ZAA New Zealand Branch office is hosted by Auckland Zoo in New Zealand. It also operates its own separate Species Management Program, the ZAA offers four types of Institutional Membership Full - Requires inspection and board approval

5.
Sunshine Coast, Queensland
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Sunshine Coast is a peri-urban area and the third most populated area in the Australian state of Queensland. The estimated urban population of Sunshine Coast as at June 2015 was 302,122, the area was first settled by Europeans in the 19th century with development progressing slowly until tourism became an important industry. The area has several coastal hubs at Caloundra, Kawana Waters, Maroochydore, Nambour and Maleny have developed as primary commercial centres for the hinterland, although Maleny falls outside the urban area defined by the ABS that this article refers to. James Cook on the deck of HM Bark Endeavour in 1770 became the first known white settler to sight the Glass House Mountains, in the 1820s, the Sunshine Coast saw its first white inhabitants, three castaways who shared the life of the local Aborigines for eight months. Thereafter, during the 1830s to 1840s, the district home to numerous runaway convicts from the Moreton Bay penal colony slightly to the south. However, during the 1840s and 1850s, the Bunya Bunya Reserve, the Blackall Range, on account of the tri-annual Bunya Festival, served as both a hideout and rallying point for attacks against white settlement. By the 1850s timber cutters and cattlemen had started exploiting the area, many of the Sunshine Coasts towns began as simple ports or jetties for the timber industry during the 1860s and 1870s, as the area once had magnificent stands of forest. Likewise, the roads often began as snigging tracks for hauling timber. Timbergetters used the creeks, rivers and lakes as seaways to float out their logs of cedar – the resultant wood being shipped as far afield as Europe. During the Gympie Gold Rush, prospectors scaled the Sunshine Coast mountains to develop easier roadways to, after construction of the railway line to Gympie, the coastal and river towns, being mostly ports for the early river-trade, were bypassed. By the 1890s diverse small-farming had replaced the cattle-and-timber economy of earlier decades, sugar cane and pineapples proved especially important produce for the district. Many small hamlets and towns now emerged, produce was initially taken by horse to Landsborough, then to Eudlo in 1891. Especially after World War II, the Sunshine Coast grew into a favoured holiday and this tendency was further expanded in the development boom of the 1960s and 1970s. Around the same time, various tourist/theme parks were created – the most iconic being Woombyes Big Pineapple, during the 1960s and 1970s, the Sunshine Coast also attracted persons drawn to alternative lifestyles. These newcomers developed a range of industries, co-operatives and spiritual centres. After the 1980s, the Sunshine Coast experienced rapid population growth, as of 2011 it had become one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia. As the region becomes increasingly residential, most of the distinctive small farms – especially tropical-fruit and sugar-cane farms have disappeared. The Moreton sugar mills closure in 2003 removed a market for the districts 120 cane growers who had been harvesting cane in the region, instead, businesses concerned with retail, catering and tourism have assumed increasing importance

6.
Glass House Mountains National Park
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Glass House Mountains National Park is a heritage-listed national park at Glass House Mountains, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Beerburrum Forest Reserve 1 and it is 70 km north of Brisbane and consists of a flat plain punctuated by rhyolite and trachyte volcanic plugs, the cores of extinct volcanoes that formed 27 million to 26 million years ago. The mountains would once have had pyroclastic exteriors, but these have eroded away, the national park was established in 1994. On 23 June 2010 the Queensland Government announced the expansion of the park to include an additional 2,117 hectares and it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 May 2007. Camp grounds are available at Glass House Mountains township and Coochin Creek, lookouts have been built at several of the summits. Walking tracks allow access to the summits of Mount Beerwah, Mount Tibrogargan, access is via the Steve Irwin Way exit from the Bruce Highway. The Glass House Mountains are one of southeast Queenslands most impressive landmarks and they are situated 65 -75 kilometres north of Brisbane and are a group of steep sided plugs of trachyte and rhyolite, once within volcanoes active in the early Tertiary Period. They have been exposed by wind and water erosion of the material of the cones and surrounding area. The mountains are central to the myths of the region and their spiritual and social importance. The shape of the mountains reminded him of the glass furnaces back in his native Yorkshire. In his log for 17 May 1770 he wrote, this place may always be found by three hills which lay to the northward of it in the latitude of 26 degrees 53 minutes south. There are likewise several other peaked hills inland to the northward of these, nearly thirty years later, Lieutenant Matthew Flinders sailed up the coast in the sloop Norfolk. Two Haycock like hummocks distinct from any other land opened soon after a few degrees to the southward, on 26 July Flinders took two sailors and the Aborigine Bungaree and landed on the shore with the intention of climbing Mount Tibrogargan. They climbed Mount Beerburrum before setting off for Tibrogargan, which reached the next day. On 29 November 1823 John Oxley entered observations of the Glass Houses in his field book, allan Cunningham also mentioned them in his report of 15 July 1829. In 1839-42 Andrew Petrie and Stephen Simpson explored the Glasshouse Mountains and in 1848 Andrew and John Petrie climbed Beerwah, Petrie and naturalist Dr Ludwig Leichhardt visited the area in 1843 and 1844 and made geological and botanical observations. The Glass House Mountains have been an inspiration for artists since they were first described by Cook, including the painting by Conrad Martens Glasshouse Mountains, Moreton Bay. Numerous poems have been written about them and they have been the subjects of such as the short story, The Mountains Played

7.
Terri Irwin
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Theresa Penelope Terri Irwin AM is an American-Australian naturalist and author, and the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. She is the widow of naturalist Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin co-starred with her husband on The Crocodile Hunter, their unconventional television nature documentary series and its spin-off series, Croc Files and The Crocodile Hunter Diaries. She has lived in Australia since 1992, when she married Irwin, theresa Penelope Raines was born in Eugene, Oregon, the youngest of three daughters of Clarence and Judy Raines. Her family was in the trucking business, soon she was handling 300 animals each year. Irwin joined an emergency hospital in 1989 as a veterinary technician to gain further knowledge on the care. Her life was busy, as she was still helping her father run the family business, rehabilitating animals through her Cougar Country. In addition, she had fifteen cats of her own, several birds, in 1991, she went on a tour of Australia, and while visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities, she had a chance meeting with Steve Irwin, whose father had founded the Australia Zoo. Steve would later say that it was love at first sight, a whirlwind romance followed, They were engaged after only four months, and eight months later, on June 4,1992, they married in Eugene, Oregon. Their first television documentary was filmed on their honeymoon, the footage, shot by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, which later became successful in the United States. The couple settled in Australia shortly after their wedding, Terri leaving her Cougar Country project behind in the United States, however, as a partner in their wildlife enterprises and television shows, she believes she was able to do far greater work on behalf of wildlife conservation. She, Steve and Bindi appeared in the Wiggles video/DVD release Wiggly Safari in 2002, the Irwins had two children, daughter Bindi Sue on July 24,1998, and son Robert Clarence on December 1,2003. We love our little girl, we go home to each other at night, say my husband had a dangerous job and I wasnt with him, I dont know how you go, Oh honey, how was it with the police department today. You got all your fingers and toes today, id have to become a police officer and work with him, I couldnt do it. Irwin and her children were reportedly trekking in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, on the morning of September 4,2006 and he sustained heart injuries from a short-tail stingray barb which pierced his chest. He was filming a documentary at the time at Batt Reef near Port Douglas in Queensland. The service was held at the Crocoseum, a 5, 500-seat open-air amphitheater, which Steve built at the zoo and she also thanked well-wishers for their overwhelming outpouring of love, support and prayers for family. Terri herself was too upset to speak at the ceremony. She remained with her son, Bob, during the proceedings, Australian TV network Channel 9 screened an interview between Irwin and local presenter Ray Martin, on September 27, at 8, 30pm on the station

8.
Widow
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A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man in that situation. The state of having lost ones spouse to death is termed widowhood and these terms are not applied to a person after he or she becomes divorced from their former spouse. The term widowhood can be used for sex, at least according to some dictionaries. Occasionally, the word viduity is used, the adjective form for either sex is widowed. When the death of a spouse occurs, it is said that an effect is to arise. This is a phenomenon that refers to the mortality rate after the death of a spouse. It is “strongest during the first three months after a death, when they had a 66-percent increased chance of dying”. Most widows and widowers suffer from this effect during the first 3 months of their spouses death, in societies where the husband is the sole provider, his death can leave his family destitute. The tendency for women generally to outlive men can compound this, in some patriarchal societies, widows may maintain economic independence. A woman would carry on her spouses business and be accorded certain rights, more recently, widows of political figures have been among the first women elected to high office in many countries, such as Corazón Aquino or Isabel Martínez de Perón. In 19th-century Britain, widows had greater opportunity for social mobility than in other societies. Along with the ability to ascend socio-economically, widows—who were presumably celibate—were much more able to challenge conventional sexual behaviour than married women in their society. Many immigrants from these cultures to the United States as recently as the 1970s have loosened this strict standard of dress to only two years of black garments. However, Orthodox Christian immigrants may wear black in the United States to signify their widowhood. In other cultures, however, widowhood is much stricter and unarguably more demeaning to womens rights, often, women are required to remarry within the family of their late husband after a period of mourning. As of 2004, women in United States who were widowed at younger ages are at greatest risk for economic hardship, similarly, married women who are in a financially unstable household are more likely to become widows because of the strong relationship between mortality and wealth. In underdeveloped and developing areas of the world, conditions for widows continue to be more severe. A variable that is deemed important and relative to the effects of widowhood is the gender of the widow

9.
Steve Irwin
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Stephen Robert Steve Irwin, nicknamed The Crocodile Hunter, was an Australian nature expert and television personality. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, together, the couple also owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwins parents in Beerwah, about 80 kilometres north of the Queensland state capital city of Brisbane. Irwin died on 4 September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a documentary film titled Oceans Deadliest. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship MY Steve Irwin was named in his honour, Irwin was born on his mothers birthday to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. He was of Irish descent on his fathers side and he moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1970, where he attended Landsborough State School and Caloundra State High School. Irwin described his father as a wildlife expert interested in herpetology, after moving to Queensland, Bob and Lyn Irwin started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles. Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in animal feeding, as well as care. On his sixth birthday, he was given a 12-foot scrub python and he began handling crocodiles at the age of nine after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age. Also at age nine, he wrestled his first crocodile, again under his fathers supervision and he worked as a volunteer for Queenslands East Coast Crocodile Management program and captured over 100 crocodiles, some of which were relocated, while others were housed at the family park. Irwin took over the management of the park in 1991 and renamed it Australia Zoo in 1992, in 1991, Irwin met Terri Raines, an American naturalist from Eugene, Oregon, who was visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Australia and had decided to visit the zoo. According to the couple, it was love at first sight, Terri said at the time, I thought there was no one like this anywhere in the world. He sounded like an environmental Tarzan, a larger-than-life superhero guy and they were engaged four months later and were married in Eugene on 4 June 1992. Together they had two children, a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin, and a son, Robert Clarence Bob Irwin. Bindi Sue is jointly named after two of Steve Irwins favourite animals, Bindi, a crocodile, and Sui, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier who died on 23 June 2004. Irwin was as enthusiastic about his family as he was about his work and he once described his daughter Bindi as the reason was put on the Earth. His wife once said, The only thing that could keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more. Although the Irwins were happily married, they did not wear wedding rings, they believed that in their line of work, Steve and Terri spent their honeymoon trapping crocodiles together. Film footage of their honeymoon, taken by John Stainton, became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, the series debuted on Australian TV screens in 1996, and made its way onto North American television the following year

10.
Wes Mannion
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Wes Mannion is best known from the series The Crocodile Hunter as Steve Irwins best friend and director of Australia Zoo. Mannions interest in reptiles began in the jungles surrounding his familys home in Malaysia, in 1976, Mannion and his family returned to Australia and eventually, in 1985, settled on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. His passion for reptiles continued throughout his years and at age 14, Mannion made his first visit to the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Mannion and Steve Irwin met in the mid 1980s when Mannion and he soon became close to the Irwin family and was looked upon as a younger brother. Mannion volunteered at the zoo for a number of months and was offered a paid keeping position. He and Irwin worked alongside each other at the zoo learning about reptile and animal husbandry, Mannion started full-time at the Australia Zoo in 1988, working alongside Steve and gaining intimate knowledge of the care and management of wildlife. By 1992, he was promoted to head keeper and curator. Realising the need to gain experience, he temporarily left the zoo to gain knowledge from other zoological. Upon returning to the zoo in 1995, Mannion took up the position of manager and in 2001 was promoted to director, Mannions ex-wife Jodie Chapman is the records officer of the zoo. During Irwins growing success with The Crocodile Hunter show, Mannion would often star in the show as Steves right hand and co-host, when not co-hosting, he was usually behind the scenes keeping the camera crew safe from animals and ensuring their safety. In 2001, Mannion was involved in an incident in which a captive Australian Saltwater crocodile named Graham bit him on the thigh. Irwin, acting on instinct and training, subdued the crocodile with a wooden safety stick, Steve Irwin Australia Zoo Wes Mannion at the Internet Movie Database Animal Planet

11.
Crocodile
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Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, all of whose members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily, a broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae that includes Tomistoma, is not used in this article. The term crocodile here applies only to the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae, although they appear to be similar to the untrained eye, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate biological families. The gharial having a narrow snout is easier to distinguish, while morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious differences are visible in the head with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators. Also, when the mouth is closed, the large fourth tooth in the lower jaw fits into a constriction in the upper jaw. For hard-to-distinguish specimens, the tooth is the most reliable feature to define the family that the species belongs to. Crocodiles have more webbing on the toes of the feet and can better tolerate saltwater due to specialized salt glands for filtering out salt. Another trait that separates crocodiles from other crocodilians is their higher levels of aggression. Crocodile size, morphology, behaviour and ecology somewhat differs between species, however, they have many similarities in these areas as well. All crocodiles are semiaquatic and tend to congregate in freshwater such as rivers, lakes, wetlands. They are carnivorous animals, feeding mostly on such as fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. All crocodiles are tropical species that, unlike alligators, are sensitive to cold. They separated from other crocodilians during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago, many species are at the risk of extinction, some being classified as critically endangered. The word crocodile comes from the Ancient Greek κροκόδιλος, lizard, used in the phrase ho krokódilos tou potamoú, there are several variant Greek forms of the word attested, including the later form κροκόδειλος found cited in many English reference works. In the Koine Greek of Roman times, crocodilos and crocodeilos would have been pronounced identically, crocodilos or crocodeilos is a compound of krokè, and drilos/dreilos, although drilos is only attested as a colloquial term for penis. It is ascribed to Herodotus, and supposedly describes the habits of the Egyptian crocodile. The form crocodrillus is attested in Medieval Latin and it is not clear whether this is a medieval corruption or derives from alternative Greco-Latin forms

12.
Q150
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Q150 was the sequicentenary of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia, many local communities celebrated Q150 in various ways. In Coominya, the heritage society commissioned a series of murals depicting early life at the town. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010

13.
Herpetology
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Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. Batrachology is a subdiscipline of herpetology concerned with the study of amphibians alone. Herpetology is concerned with poikilothermic, ectothermic tetrapods, one of the most prestigious organizations, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, is an example of this. Many herpetological societies exist today, having been formed to promote interest in reptiles, some toxins and venoms produced by reptiles and amphibians are useful in human medicine. Currently, some snake venom has been used to create anti-coagulants that work to treat stroke victims, the word herpetology is from Greek, ἑρπετόν, herpeton, creeping animal and -λογία, -logia, knowledge. People with an avid interest in herpetology and who keep different reptiles or amphibians often refer to themselves as herpers, herp is a vernacular term for reptiles and amphibians. It is derived from the old term herpetile, with back to Linnaeuss classification of animals, in which he grouped reptiles. There are over 6700 species of amphibians and over 9000 species of reptiles, career options in the field of herpetology include, but are not limited to lab research, field studies and survey, zoological staff, museum staff and college teaching. In modern academic science, it is rare for individuals to consider themselves a herpetologist first and foremost, for example, an evolutionary biologist who is also a herpetologist may choose to work on an issue such as the evolution of warning coloration in coral snakes. Modern herpetological writers of note include Mark OShea and Philip Purser, most colleges or universities do not offer a major in herpetology at the undergraduate or even the graduate level. Instead, persons interested in herpetology select a major in the biological sciences, the knowledge learned about all aspects of the biology of animals is then applied to an individual study of herpetology. Herping List of herpetologists List of herpetology academic journals Adler, Kraig, contributions to the History of Herpetology. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, bushmaster, Raymond Ditmars and the Hunt for the Worlds Largest Viper Goin, Coleman J. Olive B. Xi +378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4, herpMapper is a database of reptile and amphibian sightings

14.
Reptile
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Reptiles are tetrapod animals in the class Reptilia, comprising todays turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives. The study of these traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of amphibians, is called herpetology. Because some reptiles are more related to birds than they are to other reptiles. For this reason, many scientists prefer to consider the birds part of Reptilia as well. Some early examples include the lizard-like Hylonomus and Casineria, in addition to the living reptiles, there are many diverse groups that are now extinct, in some cases due to mass extinction events. In particular, the K–Pg extinction wiped out the pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ornithischians, and sauropods, as well as species of theropods, crocodyliforms. Modern non-avian reptiles inhabit every continent with the exception of Antarctica, several living subgroups are recognized, Testudines, approximately 400 species, Sphenodontia,1 species, Squamata, over 9,600 species, Crocodilia,25 species, and Aves,10,000 species. Reptiles are tetrapod vertebrates, creatures that either have four limbs or, unlike amphibians, reptiles do not have an aquatic larval stage. As amniotes, reptile eggs are surrounded by membranes for protection and transport, many of the viviparous species feed their fetuses through various forms of placenta analogous to those of mammals, with some providing initial care for their hatchlings. In the 18th century, the reptiles were, from the outset of classification, the terms reptile and amphibian were largely interchangeable, reptile being preferred by the French. Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti was the first to use the term Reptilia for an expanded selection of reptiles. Today, the two groups are commonly treated under the same heading as herptiles. He subsequently proposed the names of Sauropsida and Ichthyopsida for the two groups. In 1866, Haeckel demonstrated that vertebrates could be divided based on their strategies, and that reptiles, birds. The terms Sauropsida and Theropsida were used again in 1916 by E. S, Goodrich to distinguish between lizards, birds, and their relatives on the one hand and mammals and their extinct relatives on the other. Goodrich supported this division by the nature of the hearts and blood vessels in each group, according to Goodrich, both lineages evolved from an earlier stem group, Protosauria in which he included some animals today considered reptile-like amphibians, as well as early reptiles. Watson observed that the first two groups diverged very early in history, so he divided Goodrichs Protosauria between them. He also reinterpreted Sauropsida and Theropsida to exclude birds and mammals, thus his Sauropsida included Procolophonia, Eosuchia, Millerosauria, Chelonia, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, Crocodilia, thecodonts, non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and sauropterygians

15.
Saltwater crocodile
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Males of this species can reach sizes up to at least 6.30 m and possibly up to 7.0 m in length. However, an adult male saltwater crocodile rarely reaches or exceeds a size of 6 m weighing 1,000 to 1,200 kg, females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m. As its name implies, this species of crocodile can live in environments, but usually resides in saline and brackish mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India throughout most of Southeast Asia, the saltwater crocodile is a formidable and opportunistic hypercarnivorous apex predator. Most prey are ambushed and then drowned or swallowed whole, due to their size, aggression and distribution, saltwater crocodiles are regarded as the most dangerous extant crocodilian to humans. Incomplete fossil records make it difficult to trace the emergence of the species. The genome was sequenced in 2007. The earliest fossil evidence of the dates to around 4. 0–4.5 million years ago. Scientists estimate that C. porosus is an ancient species that could have diverged from 12 to 6 million years ago, other relatively broad-snouted species such as Mugger and Siamese crocodiles seem to be the most likely candidates to bear the closest relation among living species. Currently, most sources state that the saltwater crocodile does not have a subspecies, however, based largely on morphological variability, some have claimed that not only are there subspecies but that C. porosus actually houses a species complex. According to Ross, specimens of C, another attempt to derive a species came from Australia, Wells & Wellington, and was based upon large-bodied, relatively large-headed and short-tailed crocodiles from Australia. The type specimen reported for this species was a crocodile nicknamed Sweetheart that was inadvertently killed in 1979. However, this species, C. pethericki, has later been considered as a misinterpretation of the physiological changes undergone by very large male crocodiles. The saltwater crocodile has a wide snout compared to most crocodiles, however, it has a longer muzzle than the mugger crocodile, its length is twice its width at the base. The saltwater crocodile has fewer armour plates on its neck than other crocodilians, on this species, a pair of ridges runs from the eyes along the centre of the snout. The scales are oval in shape and the scutes are either small compared to species or commonly are entirely absent. The adult saltwater crocodiles broad body contrasts with that of most other lean crocodiles, the head is very large.3 cm and a maximum width across the skull of 48 cm. The length of the specimen came from is not known

16.
Government of Queensland
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The Government of Queensland, also referred to as the Queensland Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Queensland has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, under the Australian Constitution, Queensland ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth. Key state government offices are located at 1 William Street in the Brisbane central business district, the Government of Queensland operates under the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. The Governor of Queensland, as the representative of the Monarch, holds nominal power, the Parliament of Queensland holds legislative power, while executive power lies with the Premier and Cabinet, and judicial power is exercised by a system of courts and tribunals. The Parliament of Queensland is the states legislature and it consists of the Monarch, and a single chamber, the Legislative Assembly. Queensland is the only Australian state with a unicameral parliament after a second chamber, the Legislative Assembly has 89 members, one representing each electoral district in Queensland. Elections for the Legislative Assembly are held every three years. The Cabinet of Queensland is the governments chief policy-making organ, and consists of the Premier, the Queensland Government delivers services, determines policy and regulations, including legal interpretation, by a number of agencies grouped under areas of portfolio responsibility. Each portfolio is led by a government minister who is a member of the Parliament, the judiciary of Queensland consists of the Magistrates Court, the District Court, and the Supreme Court, as well as a number of smaller courts and tribunals. The Chief Justice of Queensland is the states most senior judicial officer, the Magistrates Court is the lowest tier of the judicial hierarchy of Queensland. The courts civil jurisdiction covers matters in which the amount in dispute is less than or equal to $150,000, Appeals against decisions by the Magistrates Court are heard by the District Court. The District Court is the tier of the judicial hierarchy of Queensland. The court has jurisdiction to all appeals from decisions made in the Magistrates Court. Its criminal jurisdiction covers serious indictable offences, the courts civil jurisdiction covers matters in which the amount in dispute is more than $150,000 but less than or equal to $750,000. Appeals against decisions by the District Court are heard by the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court is the highest tier of the judicial hierarchy Queensland. The court has two divisions, the Trial Division and the Court of Appeal, the Trial Divisions jurisdiction covers serious criminal offences, and civil matters involving claims of more than $750,000. The Court of Appeals jurisdiction allows it to hear cases on appeal from the Trial Division, the District Court, Appeals against decisions by the Court of Appeal are heard by the High Court of Australia

17.
Brisbane
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Brisbane is the capital of and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbanes metropolitan area has a population of 2.35 million, the Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, about 15 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite, one of the oldest cities in Australia, Brisbane was founded upon the ancient homelands of the indigenous Turrbal and Jagera peoples. A penal settlement was founded in 1824 at Redcliffe,28 kilometres north of the business district. The city was marred by the Australian frontier wars between 1843 and 1855, and development was set back by the Great Fire of Brisbane. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a colony from New South Wales in 1859. During World War II, Brisbane played a role in the Allied campaign. Today, Brisbane is well known for its distinct Queenslander architecture which forms much of the built heritage. It also receives attention for its damaging flood events, most notably in 1974 and 2011. Several large cultural, international and sporting events have held at Brisbane, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 88, the final Goodwill Games in 2001. Prior to white settlement, the Brisbane area was inhabited by the Turrbal and they knew the area that is now the central business district as Mian-jin, meaning place shaped as a spike. The Moreton Bay area was explored by Matthew Flinders. On 17 July 1799, Flinders landed at what is now known as Woody Point, in 1823 Governor of New South Wales Sir Thomas Brisbane instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored Moreton Bay. Oxley discovered, named, and explored the Brisbane River as far as Goodna,20 kilometres upstream from the Brisbane central business district, Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore. The party settled in Redcliffe on 13 September 1824, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Miller with 14 soldiers and 29 convicts. However, this settlement was abandoned after a year and the colony was moved to a site on the Brisbane River now known as North Quay,28 km south, chief Justice Forbes gave the new settlement the name of Edenglassie before it was named Brisbane. Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838, German missionaries settled at Zions Hill, Nundah as early as 1837, five years before Brisbane was officially declared a free settlement. The band consisted of ministers Christopher Eipper and Carl Wilhelm Schmidt and lay missionaries Haussmann, Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz, Rode, Doege and they were allocated 260 hectares and set about establishing the mission, which became known as the German Station

18.
The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)
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The Sunday Mail is Brisbanes only Sunday newspaper. The Sunday Mail is published in format, comprising several sections that can be extracted. It is available for purchase throughout Queensland, most regions of Northern New South Wales, the newspaper is published by Queensland Newspapers, part of News Corp Australia whose parent company is News Corp. The editorial office is located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbanes inner northern suburbs, the December 2006 Roy Morgan Readership poll put the newspapers circulation at 601,357, with readership at 1,515,000, making it the third most read Sunday newspaper in Australia. As of 2013 The Sunday Mail costs A$2.50, liz Deegan succeeded Michael Prain as Editor in September 2006. Prain, who was Editor of the newspaper for almost a decade, was appointed Managing Editor, Digital Media, the Sunday Mail was published in a new design, featuring a new masthead, updated typography and somewhat different supplements on 15 July 2007. The paper has been digitised up until December 261954 as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program of the National Library of Australia, the Courier-Mail List of newspapers in Australia News Corp Australia News Corp The Sunday Mail The Sunday Mail in Troves Digitised newspapers

19.
Animal Planet
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Animal Planet is an American basic cable and satellite television channel owned by Discovery Communications. Originally focused on more educationally-based television shows, the network has featured more reality programming since 2008 and it is available throughout the United States, as well as in over 70 countries around the world. Country-specific versions of the channel have been created in Canada, India, Japan, Taiwan, as of February 2015, approximately 94,288,000 American households receive Animal Planet. Animal Planet was launched on October 1,1996, it was created by Discovery Communications in cooperation with the British Broadcasting Corporation, in late 2005, as part of a multimillion-dollar expansion, the National Aquarium in Baltimore opened an exhibit called Animal Planet Australia, Wild Extreme. The partnership also allowed the possibility of future productions of television programs about the National Aquarium in Baltimores research, in 2006, BBC Worldwide sold its 20% interest in the flagship Animal Planet U. S. network back to Discovery Communications. Animal Planet is additionally a member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative. During the late 2000s, Genius Products announced a U. S. distribution agreement involving Animal Planet, jakks Pacific also entered into a licensing agreement to develop Animal Planet-branded pet products. On February 3,2008, Animal Planet relaunched itself as part of a new branding campaign that sheds its soft and furry side for programming and an image with more bite. As part of the relaunch, Animal Planet replaced its elephant, the goal is to move from being perceived by viewers as paternalistic, preachy, and observation-based to being seen as active, entertaining and edgy. That means targeting adults 25-49, rather than families, with less voice-of-God narration and more visceral imagery. Think of it as swapping a drab narrator saying that a lion is about to kill its prey for the scream of the doomed creature as it meets its demise. This rebranding effort continued in 2010 with a change of the slogan, from Same Planet. Recent additions to the channel, such as Meerkat Manor and Orangutan Island, reflect its shift toward predation programming, Animal Planet intended the new direction to help revitalize stagnating ratings, after primetime viewership of the network dropped by 9% in 2007. Animal Planet added pseudo-scientific documentary, reality television, and sitcom shows to its line-up, the 1080i high definition simulcast of Animal Planet launched on September 1,2007, it is available on all major cable and satellite providers. It was also launched on February 3,2009 in Norway for Canal Digital, Norway is the first country outside the U. S. to receive a high definition feed of Animal Planet. D. C. Thomson & Co. partnered with Discovery Communications to publish Animal Planet Magazine in the United Kingdom, the magazines first issue was released on February 16,2011. The deal also constitutes a first-look deal, giving Revision3 first right to distribute all co-developed shows, Animal Planet originally aired Mermaids, The Body Found on May 27,2012, and a sequel called Mermaids, The New Evidence about a year later. They tell a story of a scientific teams investigative efforts to uncover the source behind mysterious underwater recordings of an unidentified marine body, included is the generally discredited aquatic ape hypothesis as evidence that mermaids exist, along with digitally manufactured video

20.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
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Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. also known informally as Walt Disney Parks and Resorts or Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Companys four major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded in 1971, after the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, joining the original Disneyland in California, which opened in 1955. It is by far the largest Disney business segment by employee headcount, the chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is Bob Chapek, formerly president of Disney Consumer Products. Chapek reports to Disney CEO Bob Iger, in 1949, Ice Capades added a Disney segment to its performances. Costumes from those shows were used at the opening of Disneyland in 1955 with some performers hired away for Disney, originally, entry into the theme park and travel business was a side project of Walt Disney himself. With the WED concept designs and prospectus for Disneylandia, Roy Disney in September 1953 met with TV networks in a deal for Disney-produced TV show, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres agreed to the Disneyland, Inc. investment. Joining AB-PT as Disneyland investors were Walt Disney Productions, Western Publishing, Walt Disney Productions had the option to repurchase the Walt Disney, WED and Western Publishing shares by May 1,1959 for $562,500. With a need for the Disneyland Hotel nearby and no funding available for Disney to build it, Disneyland, changed from Disneylandia, was announced in April 1954 by Walt to be opened in July 1955. On July 17,1955, the Disneyland park with five themed lands containing eighteen attractions with double the expected guests, WED owned Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad opened, too. On June 29,1957, Disney Production exercised its options to purchase all and this allowed WDP to consolidate DLI into its 1957 annual accounting statements adding four months worth of net profits, $511K. The first Audio-Animatronic attraction, Walt Disneys Enchanted Tiki Room, opened at Disneyland in 1963, beginning in 1958 with the contracting of Economics Research Associates to find a location for another Disney resort, Disney Productions moved beyond a single park. ERA recommended Florida, another study in 1961 named Ocala or Orlando in Florida as possible locations, in 1963, Roy made plans to buy from 5,000 to 10,000 acres, which was carried out in 1964, amassing 27,443 acres by October 1965. Plans for the Florida project that would eventually become Walt Disney World were announced to the public in November 1965. Legislation forming the Reedy Creek Improvement District was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12,1967, ground breaking followed for the future Reedy Creek park on May 30. In Roy O. Disneys last act as CEO in 1968, the next year, The Oriental Land Company contacted Disney about building a theme park. In 1959, the WED-owned Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System was installed at Disneyland, disneylands first new themed land, New Orleans Square, opened in 1966. Tomorrowland was revamped in 1967 with seven new attractions, the design and architectural group and the WED Enterprise name was purchased from Walts corporation, renamed as Retlaw Enterprise. Disney expanded into attractions at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair with Its a Small World and costumed character appearances

21.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
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Disneys Animal Kingdom is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division, it is the largest theme park in the world, the park opened on Earth Day, April 22,1998, and was the fourth theme park built at Walt Disney World. The park is dedicated and themed entirely around the environment and animal conservation. The park is represented by the Tree of Life, a 145-foot-tall, in 2015 it had 10.9 million visitors, ranking it the fourth-most visited amusement park in the United States, behind the other three Walt Disney World parks, and seventh-most visited in the world. Welcome to a kingdom of animals, Disneys Animal Kingdom is divided into six themed areas. The Oasis is the main entrance, providing guest services. The main paths lead deeper into the park, and onto Discovery Island, a Rainforest Cafe is located at the entrance prior to entering Oasis and the park proper through the turnstiles. Discovery Island is located at the center of the park, in the middle of the Discovery River waterway and it is the central hub connecting the other sections of the park, with the exception of Rafikis Planet Watch. It was originally called Safari Village, as Discovery Island was the name for the zoological park located in Walt Disney Worlds Bay Lake. The Tree of Life, the sculpted, man-made Baobab tree, is located in this section and is surrounded by trails. Beneath the Tree of Life lies Its Tough to Be a Bug, a 4D film based on the 1998 Disney·Pixar film, A Bugs Life. The parks largest gift shops and two of its restaurants are on Discovery Island. Africa is one of the areas of the park. Set in the fictional east African port village of Harambe, this area contains several animal exhibits, the village is the namesake of the Harambe Wildlife Preserve, the fictional home of Africas main attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris. Guests climb aboard a safari vehicle for an expedition to see African species in savanna, rivers. On the western side of Africa is the Harambe Theater, which is home to the Festival of the Lion King, Rafikis Planet Watch is the only section of the park not connected to Discovery Island, it connects only to Africa. Guests board the 3 ft narrow gauge Wildlife Express Train for the trip to and from the area. Guests first encounter Habitat Habit. where they can see cotton-top tamarins, along the way, guests can also learn how to provide animal habitats in and around their own homes

22.
Queensland floods 2010-2011
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A series of floods hit Queensland, Australia, beginning in December 2010. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns, at least 90 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at around A$1 billion before it was raised to $2.38 billion, the estimated reduction in Australias GDP is about A$40 billion. Three-quarters of the areas within the state of Queensland were declared disaster zones. Communities along the Fitzroy and Burnett Rivers were particularly hard hit, while the Condamine, Ballone, an unexpected flash flood caused by a thunderstorm raced through Toowoombas central business district. Water from the storm devastated communities in the Lockyer Valley. A few days thousands of houses in Ipswich and Brisbane were inundated as the Brisbane River rose. Volunteers were quick to offer assistance, and sympathy was expressed from afar, a large mobilisation of the Australian Defence Force was activated and a relief fund created. The head of the taskforce was Major General Michael Slater. The 2010–11 floods killed 38 people in Queensland, as of 26 January, an additional nine people were missing. The states coal industry was hard hit. The Queensland floods were followed by the 2011 Victorian floods which saw more than fifty communities in western, Brisbane experienced major flooding in 1893 and 1974 as the Brisbane River broke its bank and inundated low-lying areas. Towns including St George and Theodore had dealt with major flooding earlier in 1996, the floods were a result of heavy rainfall caused by Tropical Cyclone Tasha that combined with a trough during the peak of a La Niña Modoki event. The 2010 La Niña Modoki weather pattern, which brings wetter conditions to eastern Australia, was the strongest since 1973 and this La Niña event caused a prolonged event of heavy rainfall over Queensland river catchments. Record or near to sea surface temperatures were recorded off the Queensland coast in late 2010. December 2010 was Queenslands wettest on record, with high rainfall totals set in 107 locations for the month. The state average rainfall level of 209.45 millimetres exceeded the record of 200.1 millimetres set in 1975. 2010 was also recorded as the states wettest spring since 1900, climate scientist Kevin Trenberth thought climate change was a contributing factor in the unusually high precipitation rates

23.
Global economic crisis of 2008-09
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Excessive risk-taking by banks such as Lehman Brothers helped to magnify the financial impact globally. Massive bail-outs of financial institutions and other monetary and fiscal policies were employed to prevent a possible collapse of the worlds financial system. The crisis was followed by a global economic downturn, the Great Recession. The European debt crisis, a crisis in the system of the European countries using the euro. The Dodd–Frank Act, was enacted in the US in the aftermath of the crisis to promote the stability of the United States. The Basel III capital and liquidity standards were adopted by countries around the world, the precipitating factor was a high default rate in the United States subprime home mortgage sector. The expansion of this sector was encouraged by the Community Reinvestment Act, many of these subprime loans were then bundled and sold, finally accruing to quasi-government agencies. The implicit guarantee by the US federal government created a moral hazard, because mortgage lenders could pass these mortgages on in this way, they could and did adopt loose underwriting criteria, and some developed aggressive lending practices. The accumulation and subsequent high rate of these mortgages led to the financial crisis. High mortgage approval rates led to a pool of home-buyers. This appreciation in value led large numbers of homeowners to borrow against their homes as an apparent windfall and this bubble would be burst by a rising Single-Family Residential Mortgages Delinquency Rate. The high delinquency rates led to a devaluation of financial instruments. As the value of these assets plummeted, the market for these securities evaporated, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15,2008. In spite of trillions paid out by the US federal government, the resulting decrease in buyers caused housing prices to plummet. While the collapse of financial institutions was prevented by the bailout of banks by national governments. In many areas, the market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures. The bursting of the US housing bubble, which peaked at the end of 2006, caused the values of securities tied to US real estate pricing to plummet, damaging financial institutions globally. Questions regarding bank solvency, declines in credit availability, and damaged investor confidence affected global stock markets, economies worldwide slowed during this period, as credit tightened and international trade declined

24.
Sydney Morning Herald
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The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily compact newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia, the newspaper is published six days a week. It is available at outlets in Sydney, regional New South Wales, Canberra, the Sydney Morning Herald includes a variety of supplements, including the magazines Good Weekend, and Sunday Life. By February 2016, average circulation had fallen to 104,000, similarWeb rates the site as the fifth most visited news website in Australia and as the 42nd newspapers website globally, attracting more than 15 million visitors per month. In 1931 a Centenary Supplement was published, the original four-page weekly had a print run of 750. In 1840, the newspaper began to publish daily, in 1841, an Englishman named John Fairfax purchased the operation, renaming it The Sydney Morning Herald the following year. Fairfax, whose family were to control the newspaper for almost 150 years, based his editorial policies upon principles of candour, honesty and we have no wish to mislead, no interest to gratify by unsparing abuse or indiscriminate approbation. During the decade 1890, Donald Murray worked there, the SMH was late to the trend of printing news rather than just advertising on the front page, doing so from 15 April 1944. Of the countrys metropolitan dailies, only The West Australian was later in making the switch, in 1949, the newspaper launched a Sunday edition, The Sunday Herald. Four years later, this was merged with the newly acquired Sun newspaper to create The Sun-Herald, in 1995, the company launched the newspapers web edition smh. com. au. The site has grown to include interactive and multimedia features beyond the content in the print edition. Around the same time, the organisation moved from Jones Street to new offices at Darling Park and built a new printing press at Chullora, the SMH has since moved with other Sydney Fairfax divisions to a building at Darling Island. In May 2007, Fairfax Media announced it would be moving from a format to the smaller compact or tabloid-size, in the footsteps of The Times. Fairfax Media dumped these plans later in the year, however, in June 2012, Fairfax Media again announced it planned to shift both broadsheet newspapers to tabloid size, in March 2013. Fairfax also announced it would cut staff across the group by 1,900 over three years and erect paywalls around the papers websites. The subscription type is to be a model, limiting readers to a number of free stories per month, with a payment required for further access. In July 2013 it was announced that the SMHs news director, Darren Goodsir, would become Editor-in-Chief, on 22 February 2014, the final Saturday edition was produced in broadsheet format with this too converted to compact format on 1 March 2014. Ahead of the decommissioning of the plant at Chullora in June 2014

25.
Australasian darter
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The Australasian darter or Australian darter is a species of bird in the darter family, Anhingidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea and it weighs around 2.6 kg and spans 86–94 cm in length. John Gould described the Australasian darter as Plotus novaehollandiae in 1847, closely related to American, African, and Oriental darters, the Australasian darter has been classed as a subspecies of the African or African plus Oriental darters. All four have also been classed as a single species, examination of the leg bones indicates the three Old World species are more closely related to each other with the American species more divergent. Genetic analysis showed it differed from A. rufa to an equivalent to that between other separate species, and shifted consensus to treating the Australasian darter as a separate species. Fossils of the Australasian darter have been recovered from several Pleistocene strata in Australia, as well as Australasian darter, common names given to the species include darter, diver, needle-beak shag, shag, and snake-bird. The indigenous people of southwestern Australia called it mimal, gold also called it the New Holland darter or New Holland devil-bird. The Australasian darter is a slim bird measuring 86–94 cm long with a slender neck. The male has black plumage with a white streak down the side of its head and neck, typical habitat is freshwater or brackish wetlands more than 0.5 m deep with fallen trees or logs and vegetated banks, less commonly, darters are found in inland saltwater environments. The Australasian darter is found in the lowlands of New Guinea, New Britain, the Moluccas and it is found across Australia, though not in the Great Sandy or Great Victoria Deserts or Nullarbor Plain, nor Tasmania. The Australasian darter forages in water, often with only its head and its feathers soak up water in spaces between them, allowing the bird to reduce its natural buoyancy and swim underwater. The Australasian darter breeds throughout its range on or near bodies of fresh or inland salt water, breeding process will takes place once a year, or twice on rare occasions of two floods in the one year. The nest is a large, wide dish-shaped structure made of sticks and lined with reeds, leaves and rushes, darters often build their nests in cormorant colonies, where the nests can be distinguished by their larger size and lack of guano. Three to five elongated oval eggs are laid, measuring 56 by 34 mm and they are pale blue but covered in a layer of chalky lime, and become progressively scratched and stained over the incubation period

26.
Green-winged macaw
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The green-winged macaw, also known as the red-and-green macaw, is a large, mostly-red macaw of the Ara genus. This is the largest of the Ara genus, widespread in the forests and woodlands of northern, however, in common with other macaws, in recent years there has been a marked decline in its numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture for the parrot trade. The green-winged macaw can be identified from the scarlet macaw. While the breast of both birds are bright red, the covert feathers of the green-winged macaw is mostly green. Iridescent teal feathers are surrounded by red on the tail, if seen together, the green-winged macaw is clearly larger than the scarlet macaw as well. In terms of length, this species is only in size to the hyacinth macaw. The red-and-green macaw attains a total length of 90 to 95 cm in adults. Twelve adults were found to average 1,214 g, a weight range of between 1,050 and 1,708 g has been reported. The green-winged macaw generally mates for life, the female typically lays two or three eggs in a nest made in a hole in a tree. The female incubates the eggs for about 28 days, and the chicks fledge from the nest about 90 days after hatching, aves Argentinas, a partner of BirdLife International is leading the re-introduction of the species in Argentina. The bird which has not been seen for years and is listed as critically endangered in Argentina was released in Iberá Provincial Reserve in the north-eastern province of Corrientes. The birds are from zoos and breeding centres in Argentina and were released in 2015, world Parrot Trust Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles Red-and-green macaw videos on the Internet Bird Collection Stamps with RangeMap Green-winged macaw photo gallery VIREO

27.
Scarlet macaw
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The scarlet macaw is a large red, yellow, and blue South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. It is native to humid forests of tropical South America. Range extends from south-eastern Mexico to the Peruvian Amazon, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela and it has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas and it can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the bird of Honduras. The scarlet macaw is a member of the genus Ara, one of 6 genera of Central, carolus Linnaeus described and named the scarlet macaw in his Systemae Naturae in 1758. Both subspecies can be recognized by size and color detail in the feathers on the wings, a. macao macao South American scarlet macaw, the nominate subspecies. In the wings the medium and secondary coverts have green tip, a. macao cyanoptera North Central American scarlet macaw. The Central American scarlet macaw is larger and has blue on its wings instead of green. It is about 81 centimetres long, of more than half is the pointed, graduated tail typical of all macaws. The average weight is about 1 kilogram, some individuals may have green in the wings. There is bare white skin around the eye and from there to the bill, tiny white feathers are contained on the face patch. The upper mandible is mostly pale horn in color and the lower is black, juveniles have dark eyes, adults have light yellow eyes. It is frequently confused with the slightly larger green-winged macaw, which has distinct red lines in the face. Scarlet macaws make very loud, high and sometimes low-pitched, throaty squawks, squeaks, the scarlet macaw can live up to 75 years in captivity, although a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years. In May 2013 it was announced that a team of scientists, led by Dr. Christopher M. Seabury, a typical sighting is of a single bird or a pair flying above the forest canopy, though in some areas flocks can be seen. They may gather at clay licks, Scarlet macaws communicate primarily through raucous honks, however, vocal communication is highly variable, and captive macaws are known to be adept mimics of human speech. Scarlet macaws eat mostly fruits, nuts and seeds, including large, while comparatively docile at most times of the year, scarlet macaws may be formidably aggressive during periods of breeding

28.
Blue-and-yellow macaw
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The blue-and-yellow macaw, also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with blue top parts and yellow under parts. It is a member of the group of neotropical parrots known as macaws. It inhabits forest and woodland of tropical South America and they are popular in aviculture because of their striking color, ability to talk, ready availability in the marketplace, and close bonding to humans. The blue-and-yellow macaw is a member of the genus Ara, one of six genera of Central, the species name is derived from Tupi ara onamatopoeia macao, macaw, Tupi arara, parrot +una, dark or black, hence dark parrot/macaw. These birds can reach a length of 76–86 cm and weigh 0. 900–1.5 kg and they are vivid in appearance with blue wings and tail, dark-blue chin, golden under parts, and a green forehead. The naked face is white, turning pink in excited birds, Blue-and-yellow macaws live from 30 to 35 years in the wild and reach sexual maturity between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Little variation in plumage is seen across the range, some birds have a more orange or butterscotch underside color, particularly on the breast. This was often seen in Trinidad birds and others of the Caribbean area, the blue-and-yellow macaw uses its powerful beak for breaking nutshells, and for climbing up and hanging from trees. This species occurs in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, the range extends slightly into Central America, where it is restricted to Panama. The species range formerly included Trinidad, but it became extinct there by 1970 as a result of human activities, between 1999 and 2003, wild-caught blue-and-gold macaws were translocated from Guyana to Trinidad, in an attempt to re-establish the species in a protected area around Nariva swamp. A small breeding population descended from introduced birds is found in Puerto Rico, the blue-and-yellow macaw generally mates for life. They nest almost exclusively in dead palms and most nests are in Mauritia flexuosa palms, the female typically lays two or three eggs. The female incubates the eggs for about 28 days, one chick is dominant and gets most of the food, the others perish in the nest. Chicks fledge from the nest about 97 days after hatching, the male birds color signals readiness for breeding. The brighter and bolder the colors, the better the chance of getting a mate, the blue-and-yellow macaw is on the verge of being extirpated in Paraguay, but it still remains widespread and fairly common in a large part of mainland South America. The species is listed as Least Concern by BirdLife International. It is listed on CITES Appendix II, trade restricted and they are very intelligent and social birds that bond very closely to their owners, however, so for people who are able to provide for their needs, they make great and loving companion parrots. Even well-tended blue-and-yellow macaws are known to scream and make loud noises

29.
Gouldian finch
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The Gouldian finch, also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Goulds finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird endemic to Australia. There is strong evidence of a decline, even at the best-known site near Katherine in the Northern Territory. Large numbers are bred in captivity, particularly in Australia, in the state of South Australia, National Parks & Wildlife Department permit returns in the late 1990s showed that over 13,000 Gouldian finches were being kept by aviculturists. If extrapolated to an Australia-wide figure this would result in a total of over 100,000 birds, in 1992, it was classified as endangered in the wild under IUCNs criteria C2ai. It is currently subject to a conservation program, the Gouldian finch was described by British ornithological artist John Gould in 1844 and named after his wife Elizabeth. It is also known in America as the finch, Goulds finch. In Australia, it is called the Gouldian finch. It is a member of the weaver-finch family Estrildidae, which is considered a subfamily of Passeridae. Origin and phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al, estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter. Both sexes are coloured with black, green, yellow. The females tend to be brightly coloured. One major difference between the sexes is that the males chest is purple, while the females is a lighter mauve, Gouldian finches are about 130–140 mm long. Gouldian finches heads may be red, black, or yellow, formerly considered three different kinds of finches, it is now known that these are colour variants that exist in the wild. Selective breeding has also developed mutations in both body and breast colour and their heads, sides and necks are grey, and their backs, wings and tail feathers are olive green. Beaks are blackish with a reddish tip and their legs and feet are light brown. Newly hatched Gouldian finches are pink and naked until about 12 days old when the beginnings of feathers start to appear and these tubercles are commonly described as phosphorescent in spite of much scientific evidence to the contrary. It is believed that these tubercles simply reflect light and are not luminescent and these birds are found in northern Australia, from the Cape York Peninsula through north-west Queensland and the northern Northern Territory to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their habitat is tropical savannah woodlands, the birds are nomadic within a relatively small area and only move when water or food becomes scarce

30.
Blue-faced parrot finch
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It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km2. It is found in subtropical and tropical zones in both montane and lowland moist forest areas, where it is most often associated with forest edges and it feeds largely on seeds of grasses, including in Australia several exotic genera especially Brachiaria. The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern, origin and phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al. Estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter

31.
Red-browed firetail
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The red-browed finch is an estrildid finch that inhabits the east coast of Australia. This species has also introduced to French Polynesia. It is commonly found in temperate forest and dry savannah habitats and it may also be found in dry forest and mangrove habitats in tropical region. The species is distinguished by the red stripe above the eye. The rest of the body is grey, with wing coverts. Juveniles do not have red marks, and lack olive colouration on the collar. The adults are 11–12 cm long, the Red-browed finch was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Fringilla temporalis. It is one of four species in the genus Neochmia, the finch is common in the south east of its range, from Brisbane to Melbourne. Subspecies N. t. minor is common between Cooktown and Townsville, the species is listed as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List. There are no key threatening processes for N. lateralis in northern Queensland, in regional areas the species needs adequate shrub density to provide cover and foraging places. The species has been noted to decline or even disappear in areas that have been cleared or grazed, the red-browed finch is highly sociable, and is usually seen in small flocks of 10 to 20 individuals. Flocks are sedentary or nomadic in their local area, flocks prefer semi-open woodland, especially edges of forests, where brushy scrub meets cleared areas, especially near creeks. The finch makes short, piping high-pitched cheeps, when disturbed, the whole flock will disperse, cheeping, and re-congregate near-by. N. temporalis is a seed eater, living mostly on grass and sedge seed, wild birds will even enter large-mesh aviaries in suburban areas to eat seed, given the opportunity. The red-browed finch, like other weaver finches, builds a domed nest, with a side entrance, out of grass. Nests are usually built 2–3 metres above the ground in dense shrubs, both parents share nest building, incubation of the eggs, and feed the young together. Four to six eggs are laid per clutch two or three times per year, between October and April. Juveniles are fully independent within 28 days, Red-browed finches are common aviary birds

32.
Chestnut-breasted mannikin
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The chestnut-breasted mannikin, also known as the chestnut-breasted munia or bully bird, is a small brown-backed munia with a black face and greyish crown and nape. It has a broad ferruginous breast bar above a white belly, the species is found in Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. This species has also introduced to French Polynesia and France. The chestnut-breasted mannikin has a total of six subspecies and seven forms, the subspecies are as follows, L. c. castaneothorax –, nominate, occurs in eastern Australia. L. c. assimilis – Mathews,1910, occurs in northern Australia, not recognized as a valid subspecies by some authorities. Identification, Richer breast and cream color to belly and flanks. L. c. ramsayi – Delacour,1943, occurs in southeastern Papua New Guinea, identification, Distinctive black head with faint scalloping. Female is more noticeable than the male, L. c. boschmai – Junge,1952, occurs in Lake Wissel area in Irian Jaya. Identification, Brown scallops on the flanks and paler to straw on the upper tail-coverts, L. c. sharpii –, occurs in Hollandia, Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea. Identification, Pale grey on the head, and dull upper tail-coverts, L. c. uropygialis – Stresemann & Paludan,1934, occurs in Geelvink Bay in western Irian Jaya. Identification, Grey on the not so pale, and note orange on the long upper tail-coverts. Apparently, it is descended from L. c. castaneothorax and they are distinguished today by having paler underparts and by the scalloping of the nape extended onto the mantle. In Australia, the chestnut-breasted mannikin is known as a bird of reed beds and rank grasses bordering rivers, in swamp, in grassy country and it is commonly found in cane fields and cereal crops. In dry seasons, it is seen in country but always near water. It is also found in grassy woodland, in French Polynesia, it is well established as an introduced species, and its habits have developed somewhat differently, indicating the adaptability of the species. It is widespread on the hill slopes, in pastures and gardens, on cultivated land and wasteland, in forest ecotones. Chestnut-breasted mannikin is a sociable species, flocking in large number outside the breeding season. Breeding birds will join groups or flocks when foraging and it has a distinct liking for barley seed and thus the local people give it a name barley bird

33.
Star finch
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The star finch is a species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It inhabits dry grassland and dry savannah habitats, selective grazing of perennials during the wet season may also remove grasses that are needed for survival during the dry season. Burning of grassland during the dry season may reduce the seed during the wet season. This species is threatened by the cage-bird trade. The star finch is an aviary bird. This species has such as the yellow and cinnamon varieties. Origin and phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al, estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter. Species profile - Finch Information Center

34.
Regent honeyeater
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The regent honeyeater is a critically endangered bird endemic to South Eastern Australia. It is commonly considered a species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive effects on many other species that share its habitat. Recent genetic research suggests it is related to the wattlebirds. First described by the naturalist George Shaw in 1794, the regent honeyeater was moved to Anthochaera in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Aylward Vigors and it was known as Xanthomyza phrygia for many years, the genus erected by William John Swainson in 1837. DNA analysis shows that its ancestry is in fact nested within the wattlebird genus Anthochaera, the ancestor of the regent honeyeater split from a lineage that gave rise to the red and yellow wattlebirds. The little and western wattlebirds arose from another lineage that diverged earlier, the regent honeyeater was once common in wooded areas of eastern Australia, especially along the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range. It once could be found as far west as Adelaide, but is now gone from South Australia, the population is now scattered, with the three main breeding areas being the Bundarra-Barraba area and Capertee Valley of New South Wales, and north-eastern Victoria. A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society, transactions of the Linnean Society of London. The title page of the issue has the year 1826

35.
Lewin's honeyeater
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The Lewins honeyeater is a bird that inhabits the ranges along the east coast of Australia. It has a semicircular ear patch, pale yellow in colour, the name of this bird commemorates the Australian artist John Lewin. The Lewins honeyeater is small to medium in size and it is dark greenish grey in colour, with a creamy yellow gape. It has large, yellowish crescent-shaped ear patches, which identify it from other honeyeaters other than similar, in flight, the pale yellow edges of the flight feathers can be seen. The bill is black and the eye is blue-grey, both sexes are similar in appearance. Young Lewins honeyeaters are similar to the adults, but have brown eyes, the strong machine gun like rattling notes of Lewins honeyeater are heard over long distances and reveals its presence in an area. Size, voice, and the shape and size of the ear patch distinguish similar species found in tropical Queensland, the Lewins honeyeater prefers the wetter parts of eastern Australia, from northern Queensland to central Victoria. It is found in both rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest, and often wanders into more open woodland and it is a common bird, and its call is often heard in these areas. It is a sedentary species, tending to stay in the same area all year round, although some altitudinal migration, to lower elevations in the cooler winter months. Lewins honeyeaters feed mostly on fruits, favouring berries and small fruits, Birds are normally seen alone, but may form loose groups of up to 10 birds. They feed in the branches and on the trunks of trees. Some insects are caught in flight, Lewins honeyeaters breed during September to January. The nest is a cup of vegetation and other materials, bound together with spider web. The two to three eggs are incubated for about 14 days and the young birds leave the nest after a further 14 days. It is unclear what roles each parent performs in nest building and incubation, the Honeyeaters & their Allies of Australia. Angus and Robertson and the National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, pizzey, G. & Knight, F.1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, the Directory of Australian Birds, Passerines. Schodde, R. & Tidemann, S. C.1990, readers Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds

36.
Glossy ibis
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The glossy ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis and this is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, the glossy ibis was first found in the New World in 1817. Audubon saw the species just once in Florida in 1832 and it expanded its range substantially northwards in the 1940s and to the west in the 1980s. This species is migratory, most European birds winter in Africa, Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. In 2014, an attempted to breed in Lincolnshire, the first such attempt in Britain A few birds now summer in Ireland. Glossy ibises undertake dispersal movements after breeding and are very nomadic, the more northerly populations are fully migratory and travel on a broad front, for example across the Sahara Desert. Populations in temperate regions breed during the spring, while tropical populations nest to coincide with the rainy season. Nesting is often in mixed-species colonies, when not nesting, flocks of over 100 individuals may occur on migration, and during the winter or dry seasons the species is usually found foraging in small flocks. Glossy ibises often roost communally at night in large flocks, with other species, Glossy ibises feed in very shallow water and nest in freshwater or brackish wetlands with tall dense stands of emergent vegetation such as reeds, papyrus or rushes) and low trees or bushes. They show a preference for marshes at the margins of lakes and rivers but can also be found at lagoons, flood-plains, wet meadows, swamps, reservoirs, sewage ponds, paddies and irrigated farmland. It is less commonly found in locations such as estuaries, deltas, salt marshes. Preferred roosting sites are normally in large trees which may be distant from the feeding areas. The nest is usually a platform of twigs and vegetation positioned at least 1 m above water, sometimes up to 7 m in tall, dense stands of emergent vegetation, low trees or bushes. 3 to 4 eggs are laid, and are incubated by male and female birds for between 20 and 23 days. The young can leave the nest after about 7 days, the young fledge in about 28 days. The diet of the ibis is variable according to the season and is very dependent on what is available. This species is a mid-sized ibis and it is 48–66 cm long, averaging around 59.4 cm with an 80–105 cm wingspan

37.
Laughing kookaburra
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The laughing kookaburra is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a head and a dark eye-stripe. The upperparts are dark brown but there is a mottled light-blue patch on the wing coverts. The underparts are white and the tail is barred with rufous, the plumage of the male and female birds is similar. The territorial call is a laugh that is often delivered by several birds at the same time. The laughing kookaburra is native to eastern mainland Australia, but has also introduced to parts of New Zealand, Tasmania. It occupies dry eucalypt forest, woodland, city parks and gardens and this species is sedentary and occupies the same territory throughout the year. It is monogamous and retains the same partner for life, a breeding pair can be accompanied by up to five fully grown non-breeding offspring from previous years that help the parents defend their territory and raise their young. The laughing kookaburra generally breeds in unlined tree holes or in excavated holes in termite nests. The usual clutch is three white eggs, the parents and the helpers incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. The youngest of the three nestlings is often killed by the older siblings, when the chicks fledge they continue to be fed by the group for six to ten weeks until they are able to forage independently. A predator of a variety of small animals, the laughing kookaburra typically waits perched on a branch until it sees an animal on the ground and then flies down. Its diet includes lizards, insects, worms and snakes, the laughing kookaburra has a huge range and large population, with no widespread threats, so it is classed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The laughing kookaburra was first described and illustrated by the French naturalist and he claimed to have seen the bird in New Guinea. In fact Sonnerat never visited New Guinea and the laughing kookaburra does not occur there and he probably obtained a preserved specimen from one of the naturalists who accompanied Captain James Cook to the east coast of Australia. Edme-Louis Daubenton and François-Nicolas Martinet included a coloured plate of the laughing kookaburra based on Sonnerats specimen in their Planches enluminées dhistoire naturelle, the plate has the legend in French Martin-pecheur, de la Nouvelle Guinée. In 1783 the French naturalist Johann Hermann provided a description of the species based the coloured plate by Daubenton. He gave it the scientific name Alcedo novæ Guineæ, the current genus Dacelo was introduced in 1815 by the English zoologist William Elford Leach, and is an anagram of Alcedo, the Latin word for a kingfisher

38.
Blue-winged kookaburra
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The blue-winged kookaburra is a large species of kingfisher native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Measuring around 40 cm, it is smaller than the more familiar laughing kookaburra. It has cream-coloured upper- and underparts barred with brownish markings and it has blue wings and brown shoulders and blue rump. It is sexually dimorphic, with a tail in the male. It is one of four members of the genus Dacelo which are known as kookaburras. Alternative common names include barking or howling jackass, or Leachs kookaburra, D. leachii leachii is the nominate subspecies, found from Brisbane to Broome. D. leachii cervina is found on Melville Island and the adjacent mainland, D. leachii cliftoni is found in the Pilbara and Hamersley regions of northwestern Australia. D. leachii intermedia is found in southern New Guinea, the adult blue-winged kookaburra measures around 38 to 42 cm in length and weighs 260 to 330 g. Compared to the laughing kookaburra, it is smaller, lacks a dark mask, has more blue in the wing. It has a bill than its larger relative. The head and underparts are cream-coloured with brownish streaks and it is sexually dimorphic, with a blue tail in the male, and a rufous tail with blackish bars in the female. Immature birds have more prominent brown bars and marks in their plumage, giving a dirty appearance, the call has been described as a maniacal cackling or barking. However, it not occur between Broome and Port Hedland in northwestern Australia. Widespread and common throughout its range, the blue-winged kookaburra is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Found in family groups of up to 12 individuals, it lives in savannah woodland and Melaleuca swamps. The blue-winged kookaburra hunts and eats a variety of animals that live on or close to the ground. They have even been recorded waiting for and snatching insects flushed out by bushfires, the blue-winged kookaburra is a cooperative breeder, a group being made up of a breeding pair and one or more helper birds who help raise the young. Breeding occurs once a year in late spring, the nest is a hollow high up in a tree, often 25 m or so above the ground

39.
Golden-shouldered parrot
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The golden-shouldered parrot is a rare bird of southern Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. The golden-shouldered parrot is 23–28 cm long and weighs 54–56 g, the adult male is mainly blue and has a characteristic yellow over the shoulder area. It has a cap and pale yellow frontal band. It has a dark salmon pink lower belly, thighs. It has a lower back. Adult females are mainly dull greenish-yellow, and have a cream bar on the underside of the wings. The head in older females has a grey cap. The feathers of the vent area are a pale salmon pink, juveniles are similar to the adult female though newly fledged males have a brighter blue cheek patch than females of the same age. The golden-shouldered parrot lives in open forested grassland liberally populated by numerous termite species, often these mounds are found every few metres apart. An important habitat requirement is the presence of suitably sized terrestrial termite mounds and this has led to the Golden shouldered parrot and its relatives being known as the antbed parrots. The golden-shouldered parrot will build a nest in the magnetic termite mounds. This may be to do with the heating up and cooling of the smaller denser mounds. Commonly they dig a burrow into the mound when wet season rains have softened the substrate of the mounds. Typically a 50 –350 mm long tunnel is dug down into the ending in the nesting chamber. The clutch size is between 3–6 eggs, which are incubated for 20 days, temperature surveys have shown however, a range of 13-35 degrees C. These conditions have led to the developing a habit of leaving the eggs at night beginning around the 10th day after hatching. A symbiotic relationship is present between the Golden shouldered parrot and a species that is worthy of note. Found in around half of parrot nests, the moths seek out the newly dug nest tunnels, the hatching moth larvae consume the faeces of the nestling parrots therefore helping to keep the nest chamber clean. Whether the parrots receive any benefits from the presence of moths is arguable as not all nests contain moth larvae

40.
Princess parrot
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The colourful princess parrot is an Australian bird of the parrot family. Its name was given in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, other names for the species include, Queen Alexandra parrot, Alexandras parakeet, Princess of Wales parakeet, rose-throated parakeet, and spinifex parrot. Their plumage is green with a pink throat, bluish crown and rump. The princess parrot is a parrot,34 to 46 cm long and weighing between 110 and 120 g. The plumage is green with a pink throat, bluish crown. The rump is blue and the tail is long and narrow, the males have longer tail feathers and brighter coloring than females. The male also has a beak, while the females is duller and has a greyish crown. Another difference is that the male has an iris, while the females is much browner. In addition, the male of the species has a longer and this projection is called a spatula or spatule and appears in mature male birds. This species is nomadic, arriving in groups to breed. It is one of Australia’s least known parrots because it is so elusive and it inhabits arid woodland and scrub with spinifex, eucalypts, acacias, etc. They are unusual among parrots in engaging in mobbing behaviour against predators and they feed on the seeds of grasses and shrubs. Four to six eggs are laid which are incubated for 19 days. The chicks leave the nest about 35 days after hatching. These parakeets are truly opportunistic breeders and they nest in a hollow in a eucalypt or desert oak. The princess parrot can make loud calls and their life span is thought to be as long as 30 years. Under the right circumstances they are able to bond to more than one member of the family and these birds have a short range of mimicking ability yet, some have the ability to talk. They are a favourite among many aviculturists and pet owners because of their looks, there are three common color mutations of this parakeet. These colours are Lutino, Blue, and Albino, the natural, or normal color is green

41.
Superb parrot
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The superb parrot, also known as Barrabands parrot, Barrabands parakeet, or green leek parrot, is a parrot native to south-eastern Australia. It is a species and one of three species in the genus Polytelis. The superb parrot is mostly green with darker flight feathers and is about 40 cm long with a long pointed tail. Adult males have continuous yellow foreheads and throats, with a red band across the border of the throat. First described by French naturalist Desmarest in 1826, the superb parrot and its closest relative is the regent parrot. The superb parrot is medium-sized, bright green, approximately 40 cm long, and has long tail feathers, a yellow-green neck, the adult male has a scarlet band on its upper chest and a bright yellow face and throat. The adult female has a pale face, greyish-green throat, a variable tinged russet-pink fore-throat. Juveniles have brown irises and otherwise resemble females, the male has adult coloured plumage at the age of about one year. An Australian endemic, the parrot is restricted to the dry woodlands of New South Wales. There is estimated to be at least 10,000 individuals in the wild, during breeding season, small flocks of males often forage for food alone. Pairs may nest in a colonial system of as many as 6 pairs. The diet consists mainly of flowers, fruits, nectar. It consumes seeds and green heads of the Yellow Box and it is listed on Appendix II of CITES. Superb parrots are listed as vulnerable on the Australian Environment Protection and their conservation status also varies from state to state within Australia, for example, the superb parrot is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of species has been prepared. In December 2008, dozens of reports were filed of superb parrots being hit by cars, NPWS wildlife officials speculated that the parrots had gorged on grain spilled from an uncovered truck and became unable to move, eventually being hit by automobiles. Lendon, Alan H. Australian Parrots in Field and Aviary

42.
Eclectus parrot
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The eclectus parrot is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and nearby islands, northeastern Australia and the Maluku Islands. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see eclectus parrots thought they were of two distinct species, large populations of this parrot remain, and they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Some populations restricted to small islands are comparably rare. Their bright feathers are used by native tribespeople in New Guinea as decorations. Ornithologists usually classify the eclectus parrot as a member of tribe Psittaculini in the family Psittacidae of order Psittaciformes, however, some recent thought indicates that there is a great deal of commonality between the eclectus parrot and the Lorini tribe. The skull of members the genus Tanygnathus is also generally similar, the eclectus parrot is the most sexually dimorphic of all the parrot species. The species presumably existed in Fiji as well, E. infectus had proportionally smaller wings than the eclectus parrot. The species became extinct after the arrival of humans 3000 years ago, there are nine subspecies of eclectus parrots, although the species as a whole needs reviewing. Access to some regions where the species occurs is difficult due to geographical or political reasons, furthermore, many skins were collected in the early part of the 19th century and have deteriorated in some museums. However, most eclectus skins in US museums are in good condition, in captivity in the U. S. some of the most common subspecies are the Solomon Island, the Vosmaers, and the New Guinea Red-sided. Eclectus roratus roratus, known as the grand eclectus, is found on Buru, Seram, Ambon, Saparua, the subspecies begins intergrading with race vosmaeri on Seram. Eclectus roratus vosmaeri, known as the Vosmaers eclectus or Vos eclectus, was described by Rothschild. Larger in size than the subspecies with more yellow in the plumage. The male has more yellow-toned plumage on the head and neck, the tail is bluer and has a small pale lemon yellow border. The female is a red on the head, back. Her undertail coverts are yellow and there is at least an inch of bright yellow tail tip. Eclectus roratus cornelia, known as the Sumba Island eclectus parrot, is restricted to Sumba island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, also larger than the nominate, the male is a paler shade of green overall and has a bluer tail. The female has an all red plumage, except for the primaries which are a royal blue

43.
Red-collared lorikeet
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The red-collared lorikeet is a species of parrot found in wooded habitats in northern Australia. It was previously considered a subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet, no other member of the rainbow lorikeet group has an orange-red collar over the nape. Every year at the end of the dry season, many of them display symptoms of apparent drunkenness, what causes this condition is unclear

44.
Red-tailed black cockatoo
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The red-tailed black cockatoo also known as Banksian- or Banks black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo native to Australia. Adult males have a pair of bright red panels on the tail that gives the species its name. It is more common in the parts of the continent. Five subspecies are recognised, differing most significantly in beak size, although the more northerly subspecies are widespread, the two southern subspecies, the forest red-tailed black cockatoo and the south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo are under threat. The species is found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses. In the more parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks. They are seed eaters and cavity nesters, and as such depend on trees with large diameters. Populations in southeastern Australia are threatened by deforestation and other habitat alterations, of the black cockatoos, the red-tailed is the most adaptable to aviculture, although black cockatoos are much rarer and much more expensive in aviculture outside Australia. The species complex was first described by the ornithologist John Latham in 1790 as Psittacus banksii, narrowly predating Latham, English naturalist George Shaw described Psittacus magnificus from a specimen collected somewhere in the Port Jackson region. For many years, the species was referred to as Calyptorhynchus magnificus, in 1994, an application to conserve Calyptorhynchus banksii as the scientific name was accepted by the ICZN. The red-tailed black cockatoo is the species of the genus Calyptorhynchus. The change was first made by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1826, in 1827, Jennings proposed the name Psittacus niger for the bird. Alternate common names include Banks black cockatoo, Banksian black cockatoo, indigenous people of the central Cape York Peninsula have several names for the bird, pachang in Pakanh, inhulg in Uw Oykangand, and anhulg in Uw Olkola. Ngarnarrh or KarnamarrTo are terms used by the Gunwinggu of Arnhem Land, in Central Australia, southwest of Alice Springs, the Pitjantjatjara term for the subspecies C. b. samueli is iranti. Karrak is a Noongar term derived from the call for the southwestern race C. b. naso, in the language of the Bungandidj of south-eastern South Australia and western Victoria this bird was called treen. The red-tailed black cockatoos closest relative is the black cockatoo. It concluded that the first extant cockatoo to diverge from the ancestral cockatoos was the palm cockatoo and it merges with subspecies macrorhynchus around the Gulf of Carpentaria. It has disappeared from much of its range in northern New South Wales

Queensland
–
Queensland is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west, to the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a population of 4,75

1.
Flag (1876-1901)

2.
Flag

3.
Great Barrier Reef, which extends along most of Queensland's coastline

4.
A coral garden in Osprey Reef

Australia
–
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to t

1.
Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

3.
Portrait of Captain James Cook, the first European to map the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770

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Tasmania's Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Sites.

Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a

1.
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.

Zoo and Aquarium Association
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The organisation is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ZAAs Wildlife Conservation Fund provides critical funding to projects that aim to protect, the ZAA holds workshops, meetings and conferences for zoo and aquarium specialists. These networks develop and share resources and develop Australasia-wide initiatives in wildlife conservati

2.
Queensland Branch Logo

Sunshine Coast, Queensland
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Sunshine Coast is a peri-urban area and the third most populated area in the Australian state of Queensland. The estimated urban population of Sunshine Coast as at June 2015 was 302,122, the area was first settled by Europeans in the 19th century with development progressing slowly until tourism became an important industry. The area has several co

Glass House Mountains National Park
–
Glass House Mountains National Park is a heritage-listed national park at Glass House Mountains, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Beerburrum Forest Reserve 1 and it is 70 km north of Brisbane and consists of a flat plain punctuated by rhyolite and trachyte volcanic plugs, the cores of extinct volcanoes that formed 2

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Mount Coonowrin, Glass House Mountains

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Glass House Mountains viewed from Mary Cairncross Reserve

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Glass House Mountains Lookout Information

Terri Irwin
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Theresa Penelope Terri Irwin AM is an American-Australian naturalist and author, and the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. She is the widow of naturalist Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin co-starred with her husband on The Crocodile Hunter, their unconventional television nature documentary series and its spin-off series, Croc Files and The Cro

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Terri on a San Francisco morning radio show during a US tour with Steve, 2002.

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Steve Irwin (1962–2006), Terri Irwin's husband.

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Terri feeding a crocodile at Australia Zoo.

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Steve Irwin was the owner of Australia Zoo, along with Terri.

Widow
–
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man in that situation. The state of having lost ones spouse to death is termed widowhood and these terms are not applied to a person after he or she becomes divorced from their former spouse. The term widowhood can be used for sex, at least according to some dictionaries. Occasionally,

1.
Valentine of Milan Mourning Her Husband, the Duke of Orléans, by Fleury-François Richard

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Statue of a mother at Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to war widows who raised their children alone.

Steve Irwin
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Stephen Robert Steve Irwin, nicknamed The Crocodile Hunter, was an Australian nature expert and television personality. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, together, the couple also owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwins parents in Beerwah, about 80 kilometres north of the Queensland state cap

Wes Mannion
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Wes Mannion is best known from the series The Crocodile Hunter as Steve Irwins best friend and director of Australia Zoo. Mannions interest in reptiles began in the jungles surrounding his familys home in Malaysia, in 1976, Mannion and his family returned to Australia and eventually, in 1985, settled on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. His passion

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Mannion in 2005

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Steve Irwin, Mannion and Terri Irwin.

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Irwin showing Mannions's scars from a crocodile attack.

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Mannion planting a tree in honour of Steve Irwin.

Crocodile
–
Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, all of whose members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily, a broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae that includes Tomistoma, is not used in this article. T

3.
American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)

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Slender-snouted crocodile (Crocodylus cataphractus)

Q150
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Q150 was the sequicentenary of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia, many local communities celebrated Q150 in various ways. In Coominya, the heritage society commissioned a series of murals depic

1.
Plaque on Q150 time capsule, Old Government House

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Q150 Mural at Coominya Railway Station by Deb Edwards

Herpetology
–
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. Batrachology is a subdiscipline of herpetology concerned with the study of amphibians alone. Herpetology is concerned with poikilothermic, ectothermic tetrapods, one of the most prestigious organizations, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologis

1.
Bufo periglenes

2.
Cover of the book The Snakes Of Europe one of the first academic texts about snakes

Reptile
–
Reptiles are tetrapod animals in the class Reptilia, comprising todays turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives. The study of these traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of amphibians, is called herpetology. Because some reptiles are more related to birds than they are to oth

4.
The traditional class Reptilia (green field) includes all amniotes which are not mammals or birds, making it a paraphyletic group.

Saltwater crocodile
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Males of this species can reach sizes up to at least 6.30 m and possibly up to 7.0 m in length. However, an adult male saltwater crocodile rarely reaches or exceeds a size of 6 m weighing 1,000 to 1,200 kg, females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m. As its name implies, this species of crocodile can live in environments, but usually res

2.
Saltwater crocodile skull from The Museum of Zoology, Russia. Note the considerably more slender skull of a gharial in the background.

3.
Head of a saltwater crocodile

4.
Sweetheart, a large crocodile, at about 5.1 m (16 ft 9 in) and scaled to weigh 816 kg (1,799 lb). At one point, Sweetheart led some authors to consider a separate Australian species of saltwater crocodile (C. pethericki).

Government of Queensland
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The Government of Queensland, also referred to as the Queensland Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Queensland has been a state of the Commonwea

1.
Parliament House in Brisbane; the meeting place of the Parliament of Queensland

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Coat of arms of the Queensland Government

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Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law in Brisbane in which the Supreme Court of Queensland and District Court of Queensland sit

Brisbane
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Brisbane is the capital of and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbanes metropolitan area has a population of 2.35 million, the Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, about 15 kilometr

The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)
–
The Sunday Mail is Brisbanes only Sunday newspaper. The Sunday Mail is published in format, comprising several sections that can be extracted. It is available for purchase throughout Queensland, most regions of Northern New South Wales, the newspaper is published by Queensland Newspapers, part of News Corp Australia whose parent company is News Cor

Animal Planet
–
Animal Planet is an American basic cable and satellite television channel owned by Discovery Communications. Originally focused on more educationally-based television shows, the network has featured more reality programming since 2008 and it is available throughout the United States, as well as in over 70 countries around the world. Country-specifi

1.
Animal Planet

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
–
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. also known informally as Walt Disney Parks and Resorts or Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Companys four major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded in 1971, after the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, joining the original Disneyland in California, which opene

1.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Disney's Animal Kingdom
–
Disneys Animal Kingdom is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division, it is the largest theme park in the world, the park opened on Earth Day, April 22,1998, and was the fourth theme park built at Walt Disney World.

2.
The Tree of Life is the icon of Disney's Animal Kingdom.

3.
Scarlet macaws at Discovery Island

4.
An actress performing in the Festival of the Lion King.

Queensland floods 2010-2011
–
A series of floods hit Queensland, Australia, beginning in December 2010. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns, at least 90 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at around A$1 billion before it was raised to $2.38 billion, the estimated reduction in Australias GDP is about A$40 bil

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A woman trapped on the roof of her car awaits rescue during the Toowoomba flash flood

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NASA image showing swollen rivers and cloud cover.

3.
Rockhampton seen from the air on 31 December; the Fitzroy River can be seen to have burst its banks

4.
View of the swollen Fitzroy River, which surrounds the western half of Rockhampton

Global economic crisis of 2008-09
–
Excessive risk-taking by banks such as Lehman Brothers helped to magnify the financial impact globally. Massive bail-outs of financial institutions and other monetary and fiscal policies were employed to prevent a possible collapse of the worlds financial system. The crisis was followed by a global economic downturn, the Great Recession. The Europe

3.
A protester on Wall Street in the wake of the AIG bonus payments controversy is interviewed by news media.

Sydney Morning Herald
–
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily compact newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia, the newspaper is published six days a week. It is available at outlets in Sydney, regional New South Wales, Canberra, the Sydney Morning He

1.
The front page of The Sydney Morning Herald on 30 March 2007.

2.
The Sydney Morning Herald

3.
The cover of the newspaper's first edition, on 18 April 1831

Australasian darter
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The Australasian darter or Australian darter is a species of bird in the darter family, Anhingidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea and it weighs around 2.6 kg and spans 86–94 cm in length. John Gould described the Australasian darter as Plotus novaehollandiae in 1847, closely related to American, African, and Oriental dar

1.
Australasian darter

2.
Immature male

3.
Male preening

4.
Female in flight

Green-winged macaw
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The green-winged macaw, also known as the red-and-green macaw, is a large, mostly-red macaw of the Ara genus. This is the largest of the Ara genus, widespread in the forests and woodlands of northern, however, in common with other macaws, in recent years there has been a marked decline in its numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture for the

1.
Red-and-green macaw

Scarlet macaw
–
The scarlet macaw is a large red, yellow, and blue South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. It is native to humid forests of tropical South America. Range extends from south-eastern Mexico to the Peruvian Amazon, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela and it has suffered from local extinction through habitat dest

1.
Scarlet macaw

3.
At Fort Worth Zoo.

4.
Ara macao feeding on Attalea fruits

Blue-and-yellow macaw
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The blue-and-yellow macaw, also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with blue top parts and yellow under parts. It is a member of the group of neotropical parrots known as macaws. It inhabits forest and woodland of tropical South America and they are popular in aviculture because of their striking color, ability to ta

1.
Blue-and-yellow macaw

2.
Jurong Bird Park

3.
At Walsrode Bird Park, Germany

4.
Flying at Zoo de Pont-Scorff, Morbihan, France

Gouldian finch
–
The Gouldian finch, also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Goulds finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird endemic to Australia. There is strong evidence of a decline, even at the best-known site near Katherine in the Northern Territory. Large numbers are bred in captivity, particularly in Australia, in the state of South Australia

1.
Gouldian finch

2.
Black headed male Gouldian finch

3.
Black headed female Gouldian finch

4.
Red headed male Gouldian finch at Artis Zoo, Netherlands

Blue-faced parrot finch
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It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km2. It is found in subtropical and tropical zones in both montane and lowland moist forest areas, where it is most often associated with forest edges and it feeds largely on seeds of grasses, including in Australia several exotic genera especially Brachiaria. The IUCN has classified the

1.
Blue-faced parrotfinch

Red-browed firetail
–
The red-browed finch is an estrildid finch that inhabits the east coast of Australia. This species has also introduced to French Polynesia. It is commonly found in temperate forest and dry savannah habitats and it may also be found in dry forest and mangrove habitats in tropical region. The species is distinguished by the red stripe above the eye.

1.
Red-browed finch

3.
North Queensland

Chestnut-breasted mannikin
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The chestnut-breasted mannikin, also known as the chestnut-breasted munia or bully bird, is a small brown-backed munia with a black face and greyish crown and nape. It has a broad ferruginous breast bar above a white belly, the species is found in Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. This species has also introduced to French

1.
Chestnut-breasted mannikin

3.
Samsonvale Cemetery, SE Queensland

4.
A flock in Queensland in July

Star finch
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The star finch is a species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It inhabits dry grassland and dry savannah habitats, selective grazing of perennials during the wet season may also remove grasses that are needed for survival during the dry season. Burning of grassland during the dry season may reduce the seed during the wet season. This species i

1.
Star finch

Regent honeyeater
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The regent honeyeater is a critically endangered bird endemic to South Eastern Australia. It is commonly considered a species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive effects on many other species that share its habitat. Recent genetic research suggests it is related to the wattlebirds. First described by the n

1.
Regent honeyeater

Lewin's honeyeater
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The Lewins honeyeater is a bird that inhabits the ranges along the east coast of Australia. It has a semicircular ear patch, pale yellow in colour, the name of this bird commemorates the Australian artist John Lewin. The Lewins honeyeater is small to medium in size and it is dark greenish grey in colour, with a creamy yellow gape. It has large, yel

1.
Lewin's honeyeater

2.
Tweed Valley, New South Wales

Glossy ibis
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The glossy ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis and this is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. It is thought to have o

1.
Glossy ibis

2.
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden

3.
Breeding plumage

4.
Glossy Ibis, John J. Audubon, Brooklyn Museum

Laughing kookaburra
–
The laughing kookaburra is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a head and a dark eye-stripe. The upperparts are dark brown but there is a mottled light-blue patch on the wing coverts. The underparts are white and the tail is barred with rufous, the plumage of the male and female birds is similar. The

1.
Laughing kookaburra

2.
Large bill and head detail

3.
Perched on a silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) in Tasmania

4.
Kookaburra with a captured gecko in its beak

Blue-winged kookaburra
–
The blue-winged kookaburra is a large species of kingfisher native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Measuring around 40 cm, it is smaller than the more familiar laughing kookaburra. It has cream-coloured upper- and underparts barred with brownish markings and it has blue wings and brown shoulders and blue rump. It is sexually dimorphi

Golden-shouldered parrot
–
The golden-shouldered parrot is a rare bird of southern Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. The golden-shouldered parrot is 23–28 cm long and weighs 54–56 g, the adult male is mainly blue and has a characteristic yellow over the shoulder area. It has a cap and pale yellow frontal band. It has a dark salmon pink lower belly, thighs. It ha

1.
Golden-shouldered parrot

2.
Male at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane

3.
Male and female golden-shouldered parrots in an aviary at the Queensland Museum, showing the salmon colour of the male's lower belly (photo 2004)

4.
Wild females at Artemis Station, Cape York Peninsula.

Princess parrot
–
The colourful princess parrot is an Australian bird of the parrot family. Its name was given in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, other names for the species include, Queen Alexandra parrot, Alexandras parakeet, Princess of Wales parakeet, rose-throated parakeet, and spinifex parrot. Their plumage is green with a pink throat, bluish crown an

1.
Princess parrot

2.
A male at Bloedel Conservatory, Vancouver, Canada

3.
A curious male Princess parrot.

4.
A blue mutant variety in front of a normal wild type at Flying High Bird Habitat, Australia

Superb parrot
–
The superb parrot, also known as Barrabands parrot, Barrabands parakeet, or green leek parrot, is a parrot native to south-eastern Australia. It is a species and one of three species in the genus Polytelis. The superb parrot is mostly green with darker flight feathers and is about 40 cm long with a long pointed tail. Adult males have continuous yel

1.
Superb parrot

2.
An adult male at Taronga Zoo, Australia.

Eclectus parrot
–
The eclectus parrot is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and nearby islands, northeastern Australia and the Maluku Islands. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see eclectus parrots thought they were of two distinct species, large populations of this parrot remain,

4.
A seven-week-old male chick that has been hand reared for the pet trade

Red-collared lorikeet
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The red-collared lorikeet is a species of parrot found in wooded habitats in northern Australia. It was previously considered a subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet, no other member of the rainbow lorikeet group has an orange-red collar over the nape. Every year at the end of the dry season, many of them display symptoms of apparent drunkenness, what

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Red-collared lorikeet

Red-tailed black cockatoo
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The red-tailed black cockatoo also known as Banksian- or Banks black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo native to Australia. Adult males have a pair of bright red panels on the tail that gives the species its name. It is more common in the parts of the continent. Five subspecies are recognised, differing most significantly in beak size, although t

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Dingo skull illustrated by Frédéric Cuvier: As is typical in domestic dogs, the dingo's relative brain size is smaller than that of all non-domesticated subspecies of Canis lupus, being almost identical in size to that of dogs considered Canis lupus familiaris.